[Madelaine Amee]

Originally Posted by Boomer

Hi Madelaine,

We bought an air fryer a few weeks ago.

Mr. Boomer likes kitchen gadgets because many years ago I convinced him they are power tools.

He looked into recommendations from “America’s Test Kitchen” and ended up buying a Philips.

It is the perfect size for us 2 people. Its footprint on the counter is approximately 9x9 inches, with the handle sticking out about 2 inches.

A friend’s husband bought one that she finally evicted. (Not her husband, the air fryer.) That one was so big it looked like R2-D2 was sitting there, staring at her, while taking up a whole lot of counter space. It was just too big for what they, or their counter, needed.

We have been using ours a lot for fish — salmon and also cod with and without panko crumbs. It might be my imagination, but I don’t think cooking fish in it smells up the kitchen like other methods.

(I have a nose like a hound dog. I am that lady in the store who makes the fish guy let her smell the fish before she buys it. I also give it a milk bath before it is cooked. But not everybody’s nose is as oddly persnickety as mine so that might be why I think there is a nuanced better smell from cooking fish in the air fryer. Weird. I know. I guess I should have been a perfumer instead of an English teacher. Oh, well.)

We have not expanded our repertoire a lot yet, but so far we like the air fryer, especially for its convenience. It is basically a little convection oven sitting politely in a corner of the counter. (I think that is one reason we are using it more than we would if we had to stash it away, which is what I do with most other things, like the big mixer and the food processor. (Haven’t used either in ages.)

The model number, or whatever it is, on the bottom of the Philips we have is HD9641/56.

And, also, this one is easy to clean. I don’t know about the others. My only input into Mr. Boomer’s research was to please not get a really big one because I did not want to have to lose a lot of counter space, even though I don’t have a lot of things sitting out. But this air fryer is inconspicuous in its corner waiting to be used. And it is used a lot.

Oh Boomer, I might have to unbend and get one after your eloquent dissertation on yours. I will definitely do a search on Phillips - my DIL works for them which means I might be able to get a discount!!!